WASHINGTON — Barack Obama became the 44th
president of the United States on Tuesday afternoon, banishing forever
more than 200 years of history during which the office passed from
white hands to white hands and promising a new era of “hope over fear,
unity of purpose over conflict and discord.”Under
the Constitution, Obama became president at noon ET, even though he had
not formally been sworn in with the inaugural ceremonies running behind
schedule. Using his full name, Barack Hussein Obama, the new president
took the oath of office at 12:05 p.m. from Supreme Court Chief Justice
John Roberts, whose nomination to the court he opposed as the junior
Democratic senator from Illinois.Clasping
hands with his wife, Michelle, Obama smiled and waved to the crowd of
as many as 2 million people who jammed the National Mall.As
the crowd chanted “Obama, Obama,” the president thanked his
predecessor, George W. Bush, and said he was “humbled by the task
before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the
sacrifices borne by our ancestors.”Obama acknowkledged that “we are in the midst of crisis.”“Our
nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and
hatred,” he said. “Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of
greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective
failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.
Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care
is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further
evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and
threaten our planet.”Saying
”the time has come to set aside childish things,” Obama declared:
“Today, I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are
serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short
span of time.“But know this, America — they will be met.”

Biden sworn in as vice presidentSupreme
Court Justice John Paul Stevens swore in former Sen. Joe Biden of
Delaware as vice president at 11:57 a.m. ET before as many as 2 million
people who swarmed the National Mall. They were there to witness
Obama’s banishing forever more than 200 years of history during which
the office had passed from white hands to white hands.Obama
and Bush arrived together at the Capitol, riding in a motorcade from
the White House, where Bush and his wife, Laura, hosted the Obamas and
Biden and his wife, Jill. CONTINUE READING...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. capital came to life
well before dawn Tuesday, as out-of-towners and area residents alike
overwhelmed mass transit and filled city streets to witness the
swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama.As dawn broke,
tens of thousands of people turned Washington's orderly grid of streets
into a festive party scene, energized by the historic moment. Ready to
endure below-freezing temperatures, they streamed up from subway
stations and past parked buses, emergency vehicles and street vendors,
bound for the National Mall lawn in front of the Capitol for the
inauguration."This is the
culmination of two years of work," said Obama activist Akin Salawu, 34,
of Brooklyn, New York, who helped the candidate as a community
organizer and Web producer. "We got on board when Obama was the little
engine who could. He's like a child you've held onto. Now he's going
out into the world." Security lines were long and daunting on
Tuesday morning, according to reports from around the city, with people
trying to get onto the Mall, onto the parade route and the ticket areas
on the Capitol. Parking lots full By 4 a.m., lines of riders
formed in suburban parking lots for the Metro transit system, which
opened early and put on extra trains for the expected rush. Many
parking lots filled up and had to be closed.Streets around the Capitol quickly filled with people, and security checkpoints were mobbed.Warming tents and
other facilities on the Mall were late opening because traffic and
crowds delayed staffers from reaching them.Ticket holders
approaching the Inaugural site on Capitol Hill awaited security sweeps
in a line estimated at thousands. People were in a festive mood,
despite the cold and economic gloom that that has millions unemployed
and tens of thousands homeless.Connie Grant of
Birmingham, Alabama, said she got up at 3:30 a.m. after coming to
Washington with a group. Three hours later she was still on 7th street
waiting for police to clear the way into the Mall.She said the wait didn't matter. "I sacrificed and came here. To me, this is very historic. I just wanted to be here.""I brought my
patience," said Matt Rohrbaugh, 37, who had traveled from Santa Cruz,
Calif. with his two sons aged 12 and 15. "Everyone else seems to have
brought their patience as well," he said, referring to the long lines
at checkpoints.'Dream come true 'Christian Alderson of Berryville,
Virginia, said he was in Memphis, Tennessee when Martin Luther King Jr.
was assassinated. "That day was sorrowful," Alderson, 73, said as he
stood near the mall. "This is a dream come true for me." CONTINUE READING...

Want to catch the inauguration but can't make it to D.C.? Fear not,
you'll be able to watch the ceremonies and festivities on more TV
stations than ever, thanks to cable and satellite services. (All times
are PST) Broadcast: ABC
(Channel 7): Coverage starts at 5 a.m. with "Good Morning America:
Special Edition" from Washington, D.C., followed by ABC live coverage
anchored by Charles Gibson of the Obama inauguration starting at 7
a.m., the swearing-in ceremony at 9 a.m. and then the parade until 2
p.m. At 7 p.m. a wrap-up "ABC News Special" on the day's events airs,
with coverage of inaugural balls at 8 p.m. At 10 p.m. an "Inaugural
Review" special airs. CBS (Channel 5): CBS live coverage from
Washington hosted by Katie Couric starts at 7 a.m., with ceremony
followed by parade coverage until 2 p.m. At 6 p.m., CBS plans a
one-hour special on the first hours of the Obama administration. At 9
p.m., CBS airs a "Inauguration Review" special report. NBC
(Channel 11): Live "Today Show" coverage from Washington begins at 7
a.m. Inauguration and parade coverage hosted by Brian Williams starts
at 7:30 a.m. and runs until 1 p.m. At 7 p.m., NBC will air a live
one-hour special from the inaugural galas. At 10 p.m. "Dateline: NBC"
reports on the inauguration's major events. PBS: From 8 to 10
a.m., KRCB-TV airs "NewsHour's" live coverage of the inauguration. At
5:30 p.m. on KRCB (6 on KQED-TV), Jim Lehrer's "NewsHour" will feature
inaugural highlights. At 10 p.m., Channel 9 airs a new "Frontline"
special, "Dreams of Obama.

Cable BET:
Live Inauguration coverage starts at 7 a.m., followed at 8 p.m. by an
inauguration musical special, "Yes We Will," hosted by Nick Cannon,
with an appearance by Gen. Colin Powell. CNBC: The NBC financial-news channel will air a special live inaugural edition of "Squawk Box" from D.C., from 6 to 9 a.m. CNN:
Live Inauguration Day edition of "American Morning," hosted by John
Roberts starts at 2 a.m. followed by nonstop, all-day coverage of
inaugural events. Main inauguration coverage at 7 a.m. will be
co-hosted by Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper from the Newseum in D.C.
A special edition of "Situation Room" with Blitzer airs from 1 to 4
p.m. followed by live team coverage of galas. FOX NEWS: The network plans live coverage of inauguration events starting at 7 a.m. and running until noon. MSNBC:
The network's 21 hours of continuous coverage starts at 3 a.m. with
special edition of "Morning Joe" from Washington. MSNBC's primary 7
a.m.-1 p.m. live inauguration coverage will be anchored by Keith
Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, and Eugene Robinson. Special
inauguration-day editions of Matthews, Olbermann and Maddow shows will
air live, outdoors from Washington's National Mall.

January 05, 2009

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama
has raised more than $24 million for his inauguration so far, much of
it with single checks of $25,000 or $50,000 from executives from
Silicon Valley, Wall Street and Hollywood as well asfrom former supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. The prominent donors include George Soros, the billionaire financier of liberal causes; the director Steven Spielberg; the actress Halle Berry; and Berry Gordy Jr., the founder of Motown Records. The
$24 million puts Mr. Obama more than halfway toward the goal of raising
$40 million to $45 million for what could be the most expensive
inauguration ever, topping the $42.3 million that President Bush spent
in 2005. About 1,200 people have contributed $200 or more, according to the inaugural committee’s Web site, pic2009.org/donors,
which is voluntarily disclosing the donations in near real-time. The
site does not show donations of small donors, so it is not clear how
many have contributed or how much, and Obama officials say the online
fund-raising aimed at smaller donors is just beginning. The big
donors include 189 bundlers, who have collected $21.6 million of the
$24.8 million (many also gave $50,000 themselves). Of those, 103
bundlers, who have raised $12 million for the inauguration, also raised
money for the Obama campaign, according to a review by Alexander Cohen
of Public Citizen, a watchdog group that seeks to tighten the nation’s campaign finance laws. “It’s
the same well-connected big-money people who are now funding the
inaugural,” said Craig Holman, a lobbyist with Public Citizen. “What
they get is a chance to influence policy or get government contracts or
earmarks.” Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for the Obama inaugural committee, disputed that notion and said donors could not buy access. “No
one who has contributed to President-elect Obama has ever been led to
believe that they’re going to have any special influence with him,” Ms.
Douglass said. “He is passionately committed to changing business as
usual and breaking the grip of special interests on government.”The committee’s donor disclosures are a first for an incoming
administration. The committee has also banned donations from
corporations, unions and lobbyists. It limits donations from
individuals to $50,000, which is lower than the $250,000 limit set by
Mr. Bush and higher than the $100 set by Bill Clinton
in 1997. (Mr. Clinton carried over a $9 million surplus from his 1993
inauguration, when he accepted six-figure donations.) The Obama team
also limits contributions from bundlers to $300,000. CONTINUE READING...

January 04, 2009

Using the same online networking that helped put him in the White
House, President-elect Barack Obama is pushing to expand Martin Luther
King Day from a national day of community service into an ongoing
commitment to help the needy. While presidents past have used Jan. 19 to show by example how
helping the poor is good for the country, Obama is using the eve of his
inauguration to rally millions of Americans to community service as an
antidote to the recession. In the coming days, Obama's inaugural committee will launch a Web
site to link volunteers with service projects in their neighborhoods.
The new Web site will incorporate similar work already begun by the
Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency
overseeing 7,000 service programs - including AmeriCorps, given the
directive by Congress in 1994 to turn Martin Luther King Day into a
national day of service. "President-elect Obama hopes to summon a new spirit of service and
call on Americans to make a more enduring and active commitment to our
communities throughout the year, because it is a critical time for
America to come together to tackle the common challenges we face," said
inaugural spokeswoman Shannon Gilson. In California, there are already 700 King Day community projects listed on the Corporation for National and Community Service's www.mlkday.govsite. "This is an unprecedented moment of need and opportunity because of
the economy and Obama's pledge to make service a theme of his
administration," said Sandy Scott, spokesman for the corporation. On King Day 2008, roughly 500,000 people turned out to lend a charitable hand for 5,000 projects nationwide, Scott said. This year, he's expecting the turnout to more than double. Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and their families plan to
volunteer in Washington on Jan. 19, but have not revealed their
specific plans. About 26 percent of American adults already do some form of
community service throughout the year, according to the 61 million of
them who checked the volunteer box on the 2007 U.S. census. Todd Bernstein, who runs the Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King
Day of Service, the nation's largest King Day event with 65,000
volunteers, is launching MLK365 to coincide with Obama's call for a
cultural shift from helping on holidays to every day. "Clearly Obama gets this," Bernstein said. "He's using the power of
mobilizing on the Net to get people engaged, and offer solutions to
solving our most critical problems." Volunteers will be asked to use the presidential Web site to look
for projects, but also to post their own ideas, such as weatherizing an
elderly neighbor's home, or collecting used clothes for homeless
shelters. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

December 29, 2008

It's no exaggeration to say that any American designer would be thrilled to create an inaugural gown for Michelle Obama. The dress she wears to the official balls will be enshrined in history. If tradition holds, it will be donated to the First Ladies Collection at the National Museum of American History to hang alongside gowns worn by Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton. And making the commission even more irresistible: The first lady is tall, fit and, the record has shown, willing to take an aesthetic risk.
But the challenges of creating an inaugural gown are immense. The dress not only serves as an emphatic pronouncement of the first lady's personal style, but also reflects how Americans would like to portray themselves to the world. Sophistication, class, modernity, creativity and the elusive notion of Americanness must be evoked in a few yards of silk, satin or organza.
The expectation is that the dress should be designed by someone from an American company. This may be an increasingly borderless world, but the gown is an expression of patriotism. For their first inaugurations, both Clinton and Laura Bush were loyal to hometown designers. Clinton relied on Arkansas-based Sarah Phillips for her purple beaded ball gown, and Bush turned to the Dallas-based Michael Faircloth for her red Chantilly lace one. (For their second inaugurations, both decamped to the atelier of Seventh Avenue veteran Oscar de la Renta.) First ladies have used their inaugural dresses to set the tone for the incoming administration or even to make a political point. Rosalynn Carter reflected the down-home, frugal flavor of the Carter administration by wearing a six-year-old dress for the 1977 inauguration. Reagan's beaded, one-shoulder James Galanos dress marked the return of glamour, extravagance and optimism to the White House, underscoring the view of America as a "shining city upon a hill."
For all the personal and political symbolism stitched into each dart, the gown is also a bit of an anachronism. It is akin to a wedding gown -- freighted with tradition and expectations. And all the guests at the celebration -- in this case, all 300 million citizens -- figure they have the right to weigh in with an opinion. Folks might be proud of Michelle Obama's Ivy League pedigree. They may respect her as intelligent and accomplished. Still, they will be disappointed if her dress isn't awfully pretty on Jan. 20.
The inaugural gown is inexorably intertwined with the discomforting idea that a woman can and will be judged on her appearance. This stubborn convention has not been shattered despite generations of women's studies classes and 18 million cracks in the highest glass ceiling. One suspects that even if it were Hillary Clinton taking the oath of office in January, not many people would be interested in what the first gentleman planned to wear.
Call the American people sexist, old-fashioned or just plain honest, but the inaugural gown is central to the celebration. It is part of the photographic tableau that is meant to instill pride, joy and optimism. Barack Obama may be the new leader of the free world, but it is difficult to get that excited about a one-button tuxedo that Hart Schaffner Marx says it is custom-making for him. CONTINUE READING...

December 22, 2008

So you want to go to the inaugural and dance next to the Obamas? Dream
on, unless you're ready to drop a lot of cash or your first name is
"Rahm." Sure, for those dying to be there just to be there for
President-elect Barack Obama's historic inauguration Jan. 20, there
will be plenty of pomp, drama and free stuff offered in Washington,
D.C., over several days surrounding the big event. But expect to part
with at least several house payments/rent checks if you want the chance to
be in the same room as the Obamas or view them on anything other than
one of the 10 massive video walls pitched around the national Mall on
the big day. Even cash is not a guarantee of proximity. There are unofficial
inaugural balls - many of which are already selling tickets - and
official Presidential Inaugural Committee balls - which won't be
announced until perhaps later this week. The first couple - and their Secret Service minders - haven't
decided which balls or events they will stop by and probably won't
reveal their schedule before they show up for a dance and a wave. No
telling if they'll stop by unofficial ones. While official inaugural committee organizers promise "inclusive
and accessible" events between Jan. 17 and 21, there is chasm between
what is available based on the amount of cash you're packing. It's just
like any political fundraiser: If you pay $2,300, you get your
photograph snapped with the candidate. If you don't, you wait outside
for a fleeting glimpse. The Presidential Inaugural Committee is defraying costs of the event
by selling four-ticket packages for $50,000. Included in the package
are four tickets to the swearing-in ceremony, the inaugural parade, one
of the 10 official inaugural balls and ducats to other concerts and
happenings.CONTINUE READING....

December 11, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama's team on
Wednesday released a preliminary schedule of inauguration events, which
will take place over a four day period and include a national day of
service to honor Martin Luther King's holiday.Under the theme "Renewing
America's Promise," the schedule also includes a national prayer
service the day after Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden take
office on Jan. 20. Obama says in a statement
that the events are designed to renew Americans' faith in their
country. He says he hopes the events unify the country amid its
economic struggles.Organizers also announced
Monday that Hampton University's marching band, "The Force," has been
chosen as one of three Virginia groups to march in the Inaugural Parade
on Jan. 20.Close to 1,400 groups,
bands, musical acts and drill teams submitted applications, and most
included recordings, which were reviewed by the Presidential Inaugural
Committee, military musicians and others, reports
HamptonRoads.com.Following the swearing-in
ceremony, the parade will travel from the U.S. Capitol, along
Pennsylvania Avenue, to the White House.The T.C. Williams High
School Army JROTC in Alexandria and the Virginia Military Institute
Corps of Cadets in Lexington also were selected.Parade participants are
responsible for paying for their own hotel and transportation, and
Hampton University will begin fundraising for the trip. To donate,
contact the university office of development at (757) 727-5356.

November 29, 2008

More precisely, how much is it worth to someone who is coming to town for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration in January and needs a place to stay? One three-bedroom house in suburban
Virginia is said to have gone for
$57,000 for inauguration week. A week at a four-bedroom in suburban
Maryland was listed at $60,000, though that, like other offerings, may
be wishful hinking.As Washington gears up for the historic
inauguration of the first African-American president, more than one
million people are expected to descend on the capital. The five-county metro area has 95,000 hotel rooms.You do the math. The demand for hotels outstripped the supply more than two months
before the Jan. 20 inauguration, not just in Washington and environs
but as far away as Pennsylvania and West Virginia; even campsites are
filling up. Some people are renting RVs; others are offering apartment
swaps.At this relatively late date, the chance of finding a warm
place to spend a cold January night (or two) within range of the
swearing-in may be largely a matter of luck — and the ability and
willingness to pay. But despair for would-be visitors has become an
entrepreneurial opportunity for locals. While many people who
own, rent or otherwise control sleeping space are packing in family and
friends without charge, many others smell profits and are auctioning
off their homes, rooms, sofas and even spots on the basement floor. All
of this enterprise has prompted complaints that some in the area are
exploiting the historic moment by price-gouging. Such high
prices are “barring earnest people who want to witness and participate
in something remarkable, positive, and promising” from coming to the
capital, wrote one poster on Craigslist, who had let out his or her home for “a very modest sum” and urged others to do the same. “Let’s act like we really do want it to be a democracy,” the poster wrote. But another poster responded that it costs money to rent out your house. Besides, this poster added: “Do I deserve to avail myself to a little
windfall profit from the smart investment I made and sacrifice for to
live so centrally? Darn right I do. So get over it.” One of the
highest prices obtained so far appears to be $57,000 for a week in a
three-bedroom home near Chantilly, Va., about 24 miles from Washington. Or at least that is what Keith Bell, a lawyer for the federal
government, said he was told by the lawyer who reviewed the contract
between the homeowner and the renter, who is coming from overseas. SOURCE:NYT.COM

September 2012

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